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I lived in Charlotte for two years. I moved there from Raleigh, and now I live in Raleigh again. If the opportunity presented itself, I would move back to Charlotte. I have immediate family in both the Raleigh and Charlotte area. I was born in Rowan County actually, and I have grown up/lived in the Charlotte area, the Raleigh area, and northern VA.

There are things I love about both places. I love Charlotte's energy, its progressive attitude about becoming a big city, etc. Raleigh is also changing very rapidly. I see it becoming a very representative second largest city, something that it wasn't doing very well just 5-10 years ago.

I am also fond of Greensboro and Wilmington. Greensboro is nice because it is very convenient to Raleigh and Charlotte by both car and train, and it is trying to point itself in the right direction. I really like what is going on in Wilmington right now, at least on my last visit during the summer. I wish it was a bit closer though. I guess that isn't a huge deal since I-40 has a 70mph speed limit, and a typical trip from Raleigh takes only about 2 hours. Soon Wilmington will be served by intercity rail. YAY

Winston-Salem is also a showing a big turnaround after decades of dull growth. I am most impressed with their efforts and I believe it is well on its way to becoming a superb city to live and work. Winston is just a bit removed from the big three, but I suppose that really isn't a big deal. I believe that Winston may also see some intercity rail connection at some point in the future--something it has been without for a while.

Hmmm, so in summary, I suppose that if I still lived in Charlotte I would choose any of the other big cities in NC, with my top choices being Greensboro and Raleigh.

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I went with Wilmington. My choice was based on city character and weather. Asheville and Boone are both great but the winters would kill me. I love the historic southern style of Wilmington with its great neighborhoods, Oak lined, Spanish Moss draped streets. All of the little islands and funky college dive bars.

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Thank you monsoon for letting some of the Coastal Plain cities of North Carolina being in that selection, being from the Coastal Plain region of North Carolina I feel sometimes we are the forgotten region.

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Well i had to say Raleigh bc it still has a sort of urban feel to it like charlotte has. it may not be as much as charlotte, but it is still progressing to that level. Raleigh has tons of opportunities popping up right now, so it is a good time for families and young adults to move there. unfortunately i also live in raleigh, and i would rather move to uptown charlotte than live here in north raleigh, but i would also take downtown raleigh's residential program too bc of its growth. maybe at the dawson or at the soon to open paramount.

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I picked Greensboro because of location and what it offers. Sure its not growing or being nationally known like Raleigh and Charlotte but the Triad (as ive said in a previous post) has an excellent chance of being one of the best places to live in NC.

As with the other locations:

Lumberton is the worst town in NC to even consider to visit/live or to pass through AT ALL. They have beaten us [pinecrest HS] in HS football but thats it. No disrespect or hard feelings monsoon but Greenville/New Bern would of been a wiser choice

Fayetteville, despite it being a city with a military base, its not THAT bad. It should stay on the list.

I wouldnt take Rocky Mount off the list. 40 miles east of Raleigh with a full freeway connection (beginning in the summer of 05), I wouldnt be suprised in the next 5-10 years, it begins to boom if it hasent already with people taking advantage of its cheap property values (think of Rocky Mt as an exburb of Raleigh). Its not a bad place to visit or even live but has plenty of room for improvements.

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Chapel Hill is a nice place but it is often referred to as the arm pit of North Carolina. It is WAY too liberal for me. You can kill someone there and get away with it because you're expressing yourself and everyone is against the death penalty, but if you cut down a tree, they'll tar and feather you (using synthetic feathers of course cause it's a PETA hotbed)

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Chapel Hill is a nice place but it is often referred to as the arm pit of North Carolina. It is WAY too liberal for me. You can kill someone there and get away with it because you're expressing yourself and everyone is against the death penalty, but if you cut down a tree, they'll tar and feather you (using synthetic feathers of course cause it's a PETA hotbed)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This all sounds a bit extreme. chapel hill is much like most other towns dominated by a major university.

"Armpit of..." statements usually refer to an industrial wasteland or places with no aesthetic value, not the political ideology of most people there. I've heard the zoo comment from mr. helms, but never an armpit reference for chapel hill.

Does this make ashville the other armpit?

I've always though north carolina looked like rifle, with cherokee county being the tip of the bayonet, sw meck being the trigger. so that would put the arm pit around the dismal swamp.

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This all sounds a bit extreme. chapel hill is much like most other towns dominated by a major university.

"Armpit of..." statements usually refer to an industrial wasteland or places with no aesthetic value, not the political ideology of most people there. I've heard the zoo comment from mr. helms, but never an armpit reference for chapel hill.

LOL

I lived there for 5 years while attending school and working and heard it referred that way many, many times. Not to get a women's right argument started (PLEASE DON'T), the armpit part may be in reference to the large number of women who choose not to shave anything and choose "alternative" lifestyles.

I will admit though that they probably have the best public school system in the state and I would love to send my kids there.

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Having moved into the region from the northeast and liking the big city lifestyle, I can't see living in any other city in North Carolina but Charlotte. Charlotte is coming along at a pace I like to see to eventually offer all of the things I took for granted in northeast cities like DC, Philly, Boston, and New York (but, w/ less crime.) I've been to all of the other cities in NC, and I feel like they're just a good decade (minimum) behind Charlotte as far as being a metropolitan area, and some of the other cities really aren't geared towards moving in that direction. I like the big city with a central focal point for the region. Neither Raleigh-Durham, or the Triad offer that since there are multiple smaller central points, and everything else is too small for my liking (just personal preference). Pro sports (Panthers/Bobcats) and the arts (Blumenthal/Spirit Square) are in my back yard and important to me. No other metro has a downtown that I'd want to live in that's of any significant size that offers so much in a small area. If I ever moved and stayed in the southeast, I'd move to comparable sized cities, probably Tampa.